Oh, don't even go there, Sarge.
They want a war. Hell, they're salivating over it. The only thing that's stopping them, however, is that faint realization that they'd have about zip-point-nada chance of winning, and no matter if they won or lost, the sugar teat would dry up faster than a puddle of mouse piss in Death Valley in July.
Nah, they want it, but they're (for now) smart enough not to pull the trigger, so to speak.